Information Guides

Practical Tips

We've compiled some information and resources that can help you continue to get settled. These are all practical tips, useful links and what you need to know to make life in your new home in Zug as easy as possible.

Emergency Numbers

In any life-threatening situation, caused by accident or sickness, please call 112, for emergencies.

In case of an emergency (Notfall), quick medical care is essential and lifesaving. The Emergency Center (Notfallzentrum) of the Zuger Kantonsspital is fully equipped and offers services on a 24/7 basis. We also recommend that you have the address programmed into your phone or GPS, to avoid panic if an emergency should arise.

In all other cases you may use the doctor’s association emergency number 0900 008 008 (CHF 3.23/Min.) of the Kanton Zug, operating 24 hours, 365 days a year.

Experienced and trained staff will gladly answer any questions and coordinate any emergency doctor appointments in the Kanton Zug (family doctors as well as specialists such as pediatricians, gynecologists, psychiatrists, etc.). It is generally advised to seek out a General Practitioner ahead of time, as they refer patients to specialists. Not all doctors take new patients. For a list of all foreign language health services in a link, click here.

For non-emergency medical assistance, or for consulting about over the counter medications and health information, the local pharmacies or Apothekes in the canton are all very helpful. They can provide flu shots and other immunzations. Many will sell herbal remedies and also provide medial equpment such as respirators and vaporizers on a rental basis.

The Zug Pharmacy located at the Zug Bahnhof is open 365 days a year, Monday to Friday from 7 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am to 8 pm.

Tel: +41 41 720 10 00

FMZ Fachstelle Migration - newcomer welcome desk

The Fachstelle Migration is the professional point of contact for the migrant employee population in Canton Zug since 50 years. They work closely together with the authorities of Zug and its migrant organisations. The team is characterised by its numerous cross cultural competences and work on behalf of the Canton and its municipalities. They are politically and religiously independent.

The FMZ also provides an array of programs that can help you get even more settled and feeling like a local in no time. The Zuger Host Programm offers the opportunity to meet with locals while getting to know the Canton of Zug. Newcomers are paired with hosts and then the fun begins.

The Mentoring Programm provides support from Mentors in the areas of language acquisition, job and accomodations search, residence, family insurance, and support & leisure activities.

The Welcome Desk is here to answer your questions. Drop in and visit, call or email them.

This information is general, and we remind you to check with individual businesses for their exact opening hours. Stores, Post Offices and Offices have different opening times according to the size or location of the business. At the train station in Zug you will find different stores that are open 365 days a year until 20.00 h - these include a grocery store, flower shop, beauty salon/barber, pharmacy, kiosk and some restaurants.

There is a special card (Tageskarte) that residents of their corresponding municipality can purchase to be able to travel on any mode of transportation in all of Switzerland in a single day. However, there are a limited number of cards on any given day, so it's important to reserve in advance. Each municipality will have information about their cards.

What does the Tageskarte do for you?

You can utilize all routes of the SBB and Post as well as on most private lines and ship connections, analogous to the usual general subscription of SBB.

In addition, you can use public transport companies in more than 30 Swiss cities with the «Tageskarte Gemeinde». Traveling by public transport throughout Switzerland for CHF 44.- per day.

The family ticket (children up to 16 years free) is also valid. A possible change of class (from the 2nd to the 1st class) can be solved for any route or as daily flat rate additionally at the SBB counter or in the train.

How do you reserve the Tageskarte?

You can see the amount of cards availalbe in Zug on an online calendar and reserve your Tageskarte here.

Day passes can also be reserved and picked up directly at the desk of the residents Gemeinde office in your area.

Opening hours for Zug Gemeinde:

Monday to Friday: 08.00 to 12.00 and 13.30 to 17.00

Please note the special opening hours over Christmas, New Year and other holidays.

You must pick up the day ticket within 7 days of the reservation and pay in cash or by debit card

Day passes are not sent by post. Reserved and not collected day tickets will still be charged.

Unused day passes will not be taken back.

No right of return on sold day passes.

Price: CFH 44

Swiss Cuts of Meat

Among things to get used to when moving to Switzerland, is navigating new grocery stores, odd items on shelves you haven't seen before and especially managing to get your favorite roast or cut of meat that you so easily find in your home country. We came upon a brilliant blog to help take all the guesswork out of this process. Soon you'll be ordering at your neighborhood butcher like a pro. We'd like to thank Andie Pilot and her Helvetic Kitchen blog, complete with extensive explanations and fetching illustrations.

Every country butchers its animals slightly differently. As I am always confused about the cuts and what they are called, I attempted to educate myself. So, I did some extensive googling and read a book about Swiss meats (see resources below). Now please accept my best renderings of the Swiss, US, and UK cuts of beef. (Not every single cut is directly translated, because unless you have a native butcher, you won't necessarily find the cuts you would find at home.

The front half of the cow is normally meat that becomes its best self after a longer cooking time and some tender loving care.

Brust—brisket (UK)—plate (US)

Federstück—thin rib (UK)—rib (US)

In Switzerland, they often use the Brust and Federstück as boiling meats, called siedfleisch (I've seen this called boiling beef in English). Federstück is typically the meat you would use for Siedfleischsalat. If you're looking to make brisket, pho, corned beef or pastrami, these are the cuts for you.

Lempen—Flank (US/UK)

The Swiss often use this part of the cow for stews and soups, but in the US one part is the quick frying flank steak (skirt steak in the UK) and the rest is normally ground.

Hals—Neck and Clod (UK)—Chuck (US)

The muscly and lean neck meat is typically ground into chuck in the US/UK or used for flat iron steaks. This might be also used for stews, soups, or braising.

Schulter—Thick Rib (UK)—Chuck (US)
The shoulder of the cow is split into three cuts:

Schulterfilet: this can be used for Steak Tartare and steaks, as well as stews

Schulterspitz: would be used for pulled beef and flat iron steaks

Dicke Schulter: is stew and braise-worthy, as well as having the right kind of beefy flavour for dried charcuterie and ground beef

Rücken—Fore Rib/Chuck and Blade (UK)—Rib (US) The back of the cow is split into two parts:

Hohrücken: this part gives you the rib eye steak and côte de boeuf/rib steak

Hohrückendeckel: is lean and used for stews and braising

The back half of the cow normally has the tenderest and most sought after cuts of meat.

Nierstück—Sirloin (UK)—Sirloin and Tenderloin (US)

The best and most expensive part of the cow—in Switzerland, it's split into two:

Filet: which gives the tenderest steaks (Filet Mignon), Chateaubriand, Beef Wellington, and the meat for Tournedos and Stroganoff

Entrecôte: your typical roast beef, as well as your T-Bone and Porterhouse steaks.

Huft—Rump/Silverside/Topside (UK)—Round (US)

The hip of the cow provides more meat for stroganoff and Geschnetzeltes, as well as some coveted steaks. It is also split into pieces:

Breite Huft: is used for Fondue Chinoise or Bourguignonne

Schmale Huft: is also used for fondues, as well as rump and sirloin steaks

Tafelspitz: is itself a famous Viennese dish, but can also be used for steak and braising

Stotzen—Thick Flank (UK)—Round (US)

The Stotzen is split into a number of parts:

Eckstück: used for Geschnetzeltes, roasts, Fondue Chinoise and Bourguignon, Schnitzel, and Steaks. It is also often used to make dried meats such as Bünderfleisch.

Unterspalte: stews and roasts, Saftplätzli, which are braised steaks, and Sauerbraten/Suure Mocke a marinated pot roast

And finally, here is one I spotted at the Coop, and had no idea what it was—the Aitchbone. Apparently it makes an excellent roast.

Huftdeckel—Aitchbone, this is an old-fashioned cut, near the rump, a roasting joint.

Some vocabulary that you might encounter when buying meat in Switzerland.

Meat marked as Ragout/Voressen/Gulasch, is cut from different parts of the cow and typically denotes stewing meat in Switzerland.

The word Geschnetzeltes simply refers to how the meat is cut, in strips. In Switzerland this is often used to make the beloved Züri Geschnätzlets, and is often cut from a tender part of the hip or flank.

Plätzli is a quick-frying steak, while Saftplätzli should be braised.

Brät is a processed meat, like forcemeat in the UK, which is used to make Brätkügeli, among other things.

SBB closure between Zug, Oberwil and Arth-Goldau

SBB timetable changes from Sunday, 9 June 2019 until Saturday, 12 December 2020.

In order to ensure that more travellers benefit from faster connections to the south and from better regional transport services, we are expanding the access to the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Due to the expansion and renewal work, the line between Zug Oberwil and Arth-Goldau will have to be closed. Please note the changes in the timetable on the website.

The main changes in long-distance transport:

• During the construction work, all long-distance traffic from Zurich HB – Zug – Arth-Goldau to the Gotthard will be diverted via Rotkreuz (EC, IC 2 and IR 46).

• Long-distance trains between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino will take 8 to 15 minutes longer.

The main changes in regional transport:

• Between Baar Lindenpark and Zug Oberwil, the S2 trains will run every half hour from Monday to Friday.

• The S2 trains of the from (Flüelen –) Brunnen – Arth-Goldau to Rotkreuz will run every hour, and there will be a connection in Rotkreuz to the IR 75 trains to/from Zurich.

• The S32 trains between Arth-Goldau – Immensee – Rotkreuz will not operate during the construction work. The S2 trains will act as a partial replacement for the S32 trains in Immensee.

• The 5 and 21 bus lines of the Zugerland Transport (ZVB) between Zug and Arth-Goldau will be extended. The new 71 bus line will directly connect Schwyz (Post) to Zug (Bahnhofplatz), with connections to/from Zurich.

A bus will replace the train between Brunnen and Erstfeld. During off-peak hours, there will be connection to the S2 trains in Brunnen, and in Flüelen during the main traffic period.

Please check your connections in the SBB Mobile app or in the online timetable at sbb.ch.

The SBB apologizes for any inconvenience and wishes you a good journey.

Switzerland by the numbers

We know there are 26 cantons, each with a distinct flag. We know that Switzerland has four official languages, many beautiful mountains, twelve UNESCO World Heritage Sites and stable economy and growth rates, but we don't always have the figures at our fingertips. Thanks to UBS' annual statistical report, we can see it all in this handy brochure.